Hey it’s a dead horse but I’m gonna kick it. McCormack got 114th? I just got the latest Triathlete and didn’t track this years Ironman so this is news to me.
McCromack brother, friend, buddy from way back. Shut up! Talk smack all season about all your races because you are damn good but shut up about Kona till you get at least 5th.
4:01 martathon?
Kick a dead horse? That one got run over by a train! Whoops, now I’m adding to it, oh well, why not?
McCormack is good, very good, but not half as good as he seems to think he is. Someday he’ll win, someday he’ll go under eight hours, someday I’m gonna be president of the United States and spend all my free time hanging out with supermodels. Ahhh, sweet someday.
Let’s look at the splits: He comes out of the water 23rd or 24th, bikes his way up to 8th with a 04:39 and runs out of gas on the run. It happens. My opinion, he was going hard on the bike and ran out of gas on the run. One day he will hook it all up and boom! I don’t think one can argue that he wasn’t “racing”
Brett
I’m not a big McCormack fan, but at least he finished. Most of the upper tier pros would throw in the towel when it became apparent they were out of contention – especially that far out of contention. McCormack is a gifted athlete but I kind of wish he’d keep his mouth shut and let his racing do the talking, at least until he’s top 10 or better at the big show.
Don’t you know that was a humbling experience for an athlete of his caliber? Most would have abandoned, but he hung in there. While I’m still not a fan, I do have a bit more respect for him for finishing.
RP
I gotta agree with RP, it took guts to finish that far down the field, it would have been oh so easy to get in the truck and disappear off course.
If you read the whole article you would see that Macca’s reason for finishing was that he will take that pain and embarressment and use it to get him through the winter and focused on Kona for 2004. I for one will look forward to him getting it right in Kona, knock the guy for shooting his mouth off if he dnf’s or if he hides in the pack. But, say what you will, he puts out his best effort and races hard, knock someone who hides in the field not someone who gives their best.
Julian in England.
I didn’t say he wasn’t racing but what good is racing if you blow up? The splits seem possible for a professional cyclist with some swim training. So I’m not impressed.
He did finish but so what? He is a pro. That is his job. I hope he holds on to that bitter taste in his mouth he got from his walk of shame and come at the race diffrently next year.
Like it or hate it Kona is “the” race and needs to be respected.
<<He did finish but so what? He is a pro. That is his job.>>
A pro’s job is to gain exposure for their sponsors. One method of accomplishing that is to win races. Chris is a high-profile athlete, he gets exposure just for showing up, he gets a paycheck. Yes, he has to win once in awhile but as long as he is a legitimate threat for 1, 2 or 3, then he’s doing his job.
<< I hope he holds on to that bitter taste in his mouth he got from his walk of shame and come at the race diffrently next year. >>
Many pro triathletes have had to walk it in during their careers. Wendy Ingraham has had shit luck in Kona for years now, that doesn’t stop her from showing up. I admire that.
<<I didn’t say he wasn’t racing but what good is racing if you blow up?>>
One thing that makes triathlon different than any other sport, even at the pro level, is that in encompasses something so much larger than win or lose. Why would 1700 people bother to toe the start line if the end result was pre-determined?
<<Like it or hate it Kona is “the” race and needs to be respected.>>
Agreed, and the Island took care of Chris in her own way.
Brett
$hit happens! Everyone has a bad day. It just so happens that his bad day has come in THE RACE for the past 2 years. I have a lot of respect for Macca finishing this year instead of hiding behind the dnf. He left in the lead pack of guys on the run and got passed by over 100 people. I’m sure most of them (if not all) said something to him - ie “you better finish this year!” or other less encouraging remarks about his pre-race macho banter.
I’m not saying Chris McCormack should be compared with the Grip (yet) but how many years did Mark suffer in the lava fields before mastering it? True Mark Allen didn’t talk up his game before hand, but this is the pattern that short coursers take to excel in Hawaii - pay your dues, gain experience, then win it. Macca won IM OZ and came second in Roth, and was unbeatable in short course until he decided to focus on Ironman. Comparing him to a “professional cyclist with some swim training” seems foolish. I wager he learned a lot about what it takes to do well in THE RACE this year.
How can you knock a guy that is arguably one of the best in the world? He has a few IM wins under his belt already and a ton of short course wins. It’s still early… he only started long course 2 (or 3) years ago? It’s not that he doesn’t respect the race or the other participants… it’s that he believes in himself - and, he knows what he’s capable of. Anyone ever hear of Prefontaine?
Give Macca some time… he’ll pull it all together at Hawaii.
While I don’t particularly like the overly confident braggarts, I don’t figure Macca falls into this category. He is an awesome traithlete at any distance and has had a couple of bad days in Kona. He is a stud and I respect him immensely for finishing given the bad day (just like Zack a few years back …). As for 114th … I hope I can manage a “crummy” 114th there next year but with a sub 3:10 marathon since I know I won’t be riding any 4:39 
While you are usually entertaining, Mr. Tibbs, you are just plain wrong on this one. Your comments amount to little better than the 100 lb overweight, beer guzzling former third string high-school quarterback doing a monday-morning thrashing on Favre, Vick, or whoever their current target, I mean favorite player is.
To suggest that Macca doesn’t respect Kona reeks of chicken shit trolling.
i don’t actually have anything to say, but when i saw the thread “114!!”, it had 411 views.
it amused me.
darrell
some of the comments on this site are a joke at times. Recently there was a thread that was bagging DeBoom, I think as he always paced himself for the win and wouldn’t be considered great until he really raced hard.
now there is an athlete like Macca who goes hard and then gets ragged on when he has a shabby race.
get out of the armchair and be realistic. McCormack is the best all-round triathlete around at the moment and will always have a go and has the confidence to state his intentions and generally has the ability to back it up. He will probably be on Australia’s olympic team next year if he tries. How many of your Kona heroes will be representing their countries?
i was a spectator at the Australian olympic distance championships a few years ago when McCormack competed 3 weeks after the death of his mother. He and Greg Bennett broke away on the bike and hammered the field and only on the run did his lack of recent training come home to haunt him. But he didn’t give up, he totally blew himself but he kept going. It was an amazing thing to see and the crowd loved him for his guts and I respect him greatly for his effort.
it is one race at one venue, big f@#*ing deal, he is still one of the best around.
America is reknowned for its trash-talking sportsman, don’t put this guy into that category, he is way above that.
My post reeks do to my breath not a chicken shit troll. I opened a magazine and got zapped by a 114th place finish. Do you have to agree with me? No. But then again I didn’t ask for anyones thoughts. So call it what you like.
This is a chicken shit troll…
Anyone think that PC are worthless? or We need to ban together to get rid of Team in Training.